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Sandy's death toll rises as Northeast begins recovery

Superstorm Sandy continued to weaken Wednesday morning, as the devastation toll mounted: at least 74 people in the U.S. have been reported dead, millions remain without power and damage estimates could reach $55 billion.

Sandy's death toll rises as Northeast begins recovery

In New Jersey, superstorm Sandy destroyed several blocks of Atlantic City's world-famous boardwalk and wrecked several other boardwalks up and down the coast. A Seaside Heights roller coaster was left partially submerged in the ocean. (Oct. 31)
AP

Superstorm Sandy continues to weaken, as the devastation toll mounts.

This aerial photo shows the Breezy Point neighborhood in New York, where more than 50 homes were burned to the ground Monday night as a result of Sandy.(Photo: By Mark Lennihan, AP)

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Much of the storm-battered Northeast is now in early recovery mode. But widespread devastation and ongoing fallout from Superstorm Sandy will likely prolong rescue and rebuilding efforts, hampering the lives of millions over a wide area for days.

With Sandy's U.S. death toll now at 74 and estimates of destruction and economic fallout running as high as $55 billion, several flood- and wind-ravaged states are restoring some semblance of normalcy as roads, schools and mass transit systems go back online.

President Obama, who toured hard-hit New Jersey on Wednesday, warned that relief efforts would take time, but promised that federal officials would cut through "red tape and bureaucracy" to provide swift relief.

"At this point, our main focus is on the state of New Jersey and New York," said Obama, flanked by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie as they toured the state's battered shoreline. "But we're very concerned about some situations in Connecticut, and we're still monitoring West Virginia. Those four states are really bearing the brunt of this incredible storm."

Christie, an early supporter of Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney, has been a leading party critic of Obama during the campaign. But Christie's frequently blunt bombast was replaced by effusive praise for Obama's response to the crisis.

"I cannot thank the president enough for his personal concern and compassion for the people of our state,'' Christie said, as they met with storm victims.

Obama responded that Christie had put his "heart and soul" into response and recovery efforts.

While losing its early intensity, the 900-mile-wide storm, now heading into Canada, is expected to cause lingering problems across 17 states.

Flood-watch warnings remain for northern New England and the northern Mid-Atlantic; the National Weather Service has issued winter-storm warnings for the central Appalachians, along with gale-force-wind and flooding advisories across the lower Great Lakes.

The West Virginia mountains could get up to 10 inches of snow, bringing totals up to 3 feet in places. Surf conditions along the Atlantic, from Florida through New England, are expected to remain dangerous through Friday.

Sandy has been particularly destructive to New Jersey, where the storm ravaged coastal cities and towns Monday night after making landfall near Atlantic City. The latest storm-related deaths in the state came Wednesday night, when carbon monoxide leaking from a portable power generator apparently caused the deaths of two sisters, ages 18 and 19, at a Trenton apartment building. Residents say the generator was being used to provide electricity.

Much of Hoboken, N.J., remains underwater after being flooded by the Hudson River. An estimated 20,000 people were still stranded in their homes, encouraged by city officials to stay there and wait for supplies to reach them. Mayor Dawn Zimmer said floodwaters were receding late Wednesday night, but the city was still without power.

"We need more food, more water and more resources coming in,'' Zimmer said. "We need more volunteer teams coming in and checking on buildings.

Some New Jersey towns, such as Middletown, were experiencing gas shortages and shuttered service stations, forcing some motorists to wait hours to fill up cars and portable generators. But fears of widespread shortages and sharp price hikes have proved unfounded so far. The government is temporarily waiving some Clean Air Act requirements in 16 states and the District of Columbia to reduce storm-related fuel disruptions, which will allow conventional gasoline and blends to be sold instead of cleaner-burning reformulated fuel.

Nearly 6 million homes and businesses in at least 15 states and Washington, D.C., remain without power — down from Tuesday's 8.5 million — as an army of more than 50,000 utility workers from across the country and Canada arrived to make repairs. For power companies, the scale of the destruction was unmatched -- more widespread than any blizzard or ice storm and worse than the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

"It's unprecedented: fallen trees, debris, the roads, water, snow. It's a little bit of everything," said Brian Wolff, senior vice president of the Edison Electric Institute, a group that lobbies for utilities.

Air travel was rebounding after the storm caused more than 19,000 cancellations. Limited air service resumed Wednesday at New York's John F.Kennedy International Airport and Newark International. LaGuardia International was scheduled to open Thursday morning with limited service. Amtrak plans to restore some train service to New York City on Friday.

Trying to ease snarled post-storm traffic, Bloomberg said that cars entering Manhattan between 6 a.m. and midnight Thursday and Friday must have at least three people. Bloomberg announced the restriction partly in response to major traffic jams that developed Wednesday as motorists tried to cross the Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queensboro bridges to reach Manhattan.

National Guard troops and local police were evacuating the last of 700 patients from New York's flood-ravaged Bellevue Hospital to other hospitals and local shelters.

New York City schools remain closed through Friday.

More than 1.9 million New York customers remained without power, nearly all in the New York City and Long Island.

While Northeast power grids were being restored, backup batteries and generators for cellphone towers are running out of juice. One of every five towers was down Wednesday, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

That — plus more people relying on cellphones to stay connected — overwhelmed the system.

A fire has broken out in a New Jersey shore town that was hit hard by Sandy. (Oct. 31)
AP

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Airports are returning to normal after Hurricane Sandy caused crippling delays and cancellations up and down the East coast.
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IHS Global Insight predicted Sandy will end up causing about $20 billion in property damage and up to $30 billion in lost business. Another firm, AIR Worldwide, estimated losses up to $15 billion — big numbers probably offset by reconstruction and repairs that will contribute to longer-term growth.

Now that hurricane sandy has ravaged the most densely populated area of the united states, the task of calculating the economic impact has begun. (Oct. 30)

Across the storm region:

— In Connecticut, where more than 500,000 Connecticut Light & Power customers and 187,000 United Illuminating customers lost power at Sandy's peak, there were still 378,000 outages Wednesday evening. In New Haven, a 103-year-old oak tree that fell during the storm revealed a skeleton that may have been there since Colonial times. The tree was on the town green, in an area where thousands were buried in the Colonial era.

-- Police in suburban Philadelphia say an early morning electrical fire that killed two women is considered storm-related, bringing to 11 the number of statewide deaths linked to Sandy. About 600,000 residents were still without power, down from 1.2 million at the peak of the outages.

The Department of Environmental Protection, which regulates drinking water and wastewater plants, said problems because of flooding or power loss were widespread, particularly in eastern and central Pennsylvania. Advisories to boil water were issued for several counties.

— In West Virginia, utilities scrambled to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers amid snow storms and freezing temperatures. Poor road conditions were hampering assessment efforts. The state's toll climbed to at least six, including state delegate candidate John Rose, killed by a falling tree limb as he was checking fences on his 100-acre farm near Philippi. Snow drifts as high as 5 feet were reported in Richwood. At least 36 state roads remain closed.

--- In Maine, the Port of Portland reopened, but ocean conditions remained dangerous with high winds. Amtrak's Downeaster resumed service. About 3,000 Central Main Power customers were without electricity Wednesday night, down from a 90,000 peak.

-- In northern Ohio, flood warnings remained for the Cleveland lakeshore area as power crews were attempting to restore power to thousands of homes and businesses.

— In Wisconsin, dangerously high waves and flooding were expected along Lake Michigan.

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A road is filled with discarded furniture and debris on Nov. 14 in Ortley Beach, N.J. Residents finally got home to salvage belongings and clean up their homes after Hurricane Sandy struck their neighborhood. Peter Ackerman, Asbury Park Press

Kathy Krieger removes a full trash bag as she cleans up her home on East Pennsylvannia Avenue with the help of her brother, Bill Krieger, who still can't get into his home. Peter Ackerman, Asbury Park Press

Kelly Spector, left, and her mother, Suzanne Hasselmann, leave their destroyed home on Nov. 13 in Breezy Point, N.Y. A fire burned dozens of homes in the community during Hurricane Sandy. Mark Lennihan, AP

Police guard a gas station in New York City. Due to a fuel shortage brought about by damage from Hurricane Sandy, the state is rationing gas according to license plate number. Stan Honda, AFP/Getty Images

People wait in line to get gas at a station in Brooklyn, N.Y. Fuel shortages and distribution delays have prompted New York City and Long Island to initiate an even-odd gas rationing plan. Kathy Willens, AP

A Nov. 7 NOAA satellite photograph shows a winter storm approaching the East Coast with rain, snow and possible gale force winds. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a limited evacuation of some neighborhoods still recovering from Superstorm Sandy. NOAA via AFP/Getty Images

Frank d'Amico, 46, left, and Orlando Vogler, 26, stand by their fire to keep warm after their homes in the New Dorp Beach were devastated by Sandy in the Staten Island borough of New York. By John Minchillo, AP

Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees use a pump train to get seawater out of the L train's tunnel in the aftermath of Sandy in New York. The MTA says the G and L trains are now the top priority. The signal system on the G still needs repairs, and the L tunnel under the East River is still being pumped out. By Patrick Cashin, Metroplitan Transportation Authority viaAP

A woman and her son scramble over a toppled tree as they head to Public School 195 on Nov. 5 in the Manhattan Beach neighborhood in Brooklyn, N.Y. Students returned to school for the first time since Hurricane Sandy struck the city last week. Mark Lennihan, AP

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, patrons wait in line to fill gas containers on Nov. 2 in Seaford, New York. This station had one line for cars and one for walkers with containers. Bruce Bennett, Getty Images

Hunterdon County Prosecutor's office employees Kristen Larsen and Mike Nugent load donated water into cars for people without power who visited the Hunterdon County Complex in Raritan Township. Those victimized by the storm could find shelter there and charge phones or access the Internet at the library. Kathy Johnson, MyCentralJersey Courier News

Manager Dean Pappas, 40, of Long Island, pauses as he makes coffee at The Open Pantry store, which was still without power on Nov. 2, on New York's 12th Street. Consolidated Edison says it should have service restored by Saturday to about226,000 dark buildings, homes and businesses in Manhattan. John Minchillo, AP

The Midtown skyline remains lit as Lower Manhattan remains mostly without power on Nov. 1 in New York City. The storm has claimed at least 90 lives in the U.S., and has caused massive flooding across much of the Eastern Seaboard. Afton Almaraz, Getty Images

Margaret Knichel and daughter Rebecca O’Neill of Union Beach, N.J., look for any items belonging to Knichel’s son, Shawn Knichel, while standing on what was the kitchen floor of his home, destroyed by Sandy. Tanya Breen/ Asbury Park Press

Family members walk through Dianne Hague's flood-damaged kitchen in the Ocean Breeze area of Staten Island. The house, like most in the seaside community, was inundated by the saltwater surge caused by Sandy. John Moore, Getty Images

Members of New York National Guard transfer bottles of water at the 1st Battalion, 69th Regiment Armory, in New York. The National Guard and federal emergency management officials will deliver 1 million meals and bottled water to Lower Manhattan, parts of Brooklyn and Queens and the Rockaways, which were hit by flooding and house fires. Richard Drew, AP

A utility truck from Southern California Edison is loaded onto a C-17A Globemaster III on at March Air Reserve Base in Moreno Valley, Calif. Southern California Edison trucks are being flown to the New York area to help in the power restoration efforts. Stan Lim, AP

Joseph Leader, vice president and chief maintenance officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, looks at 20 feet of flood water inside the South Ferry 1 train station on Oct. 31 in New York City. Craig Ruttle, AP

Shopping carts full of food damaged by Superstorm Sandy await disposal Oct. 31 at the Fairway supermarket in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn.
The food was contaminated by floodwaters that rose to approximately 4 feet in the store during the storm. Seth Wenig, AP

The New Jersey Army National Guard released this photo on Oct. 31 that shows storm waves crashing over a roller coaster a day earlier at the Seaside Heights amusement park in New Jersey. Master Sgt. Mark C. Olsen via AFP/Getty Images

A resident looks over the aftermath of a house explosion along Noe Street in Carteret, N.J. Three homes burned to the ground. One family had just been rescued from raising floodwaters. Mark R. Sullivan, MYCENTRALJERSEY.COM

Only scorched foundations and a statue remain on Oct. 30 after a six-alarm fire at Breezy Point, N.Y. The blaze began in a flooded area as the storm was sweeping through the area. Frank Franklin II, AP

Live electrical wires are tangled in a tree downed by Hurricane Sandy as firefighters battle an early-morning house fire on Heathcote Avenue on Oct. 30 in Edison, N.J. Jason Towlen, Home News Tribune/Staff Photographer

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey released this photo taken from closed-circuit television showing floodwaters rushing in to the Hoboken PATH station through an elevator shaft in New Jersey. AFP/Getty Images

Judi Doherty, a nurse and volunteer with Rockland County Animal Response Team, tends to the pets brought into the American Red Cross/Rockland County Disaster Shelter at SUNY Rockland in Suffern, N.Y. John Meore for The Journal News

Barry Wherley, left, holds a waterproof radio as he waits for the grand opening of a Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant in Springettsbury Township in York, Pa. The first 100 customers received free wings for a year. Paul Kuehnel, York Daily Record, via AP

Jack Frey, 14, hands a screw gun to his father, Chris, as they board up the family's oceanfront home on Broadway near the Manasquan Inlet in Point Pleasant Beach, N.J. By Thomas P. Costello, Asbury (N.J.) Park Press

"I'm out in the middle of no where," said Bill DiBenedetto, of Briarcliff, N.Y., as he stocks up on extra gasoline at a gas station in Millwood, N.Y. By Melissa Elian, The (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News

Rick Osborn, left, helps homeowners Stephani and Paul Derrick carry a refrigerator as the Derricks remove the contents of their Manville, N.J., home in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. By A.F. Meneze, MyCentralJersey.com

Ever Long, 1, and her dog, Bailey, peek out the backdoor of their boarded-up house in Bay View Beach, Del. The residents of the town have been given a mandatory evacuation order. By Suchat Pederson, The (Wilmington, Del.) News Journal

Mike and Carolyn Conti of Lewes, Del., shield their three children, Trey, left, Sarah, center, and twin sister Alexis, from winds as they watch the waves on Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. By Eileen Blass, USA TODAY

People bag sand as part of preparations for Hurricane Sandy in the Rockaway Beach neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a mandatory evacuation on low-lying coastal areas of the city. By Allison Joyce, Getty Images

Residents express their displeasure with Mother Nature with this message on the plywood protecting Mario's Barber Shop in Long Beach Township as Sandy makes its way up the coast toward New Jersey. Peter Ackerman, Gannett

Steve Petrie loads several tanks of gasoline into his car in preparation for Hurricane Sandy, Oct. 27. Petrie spent over $100 for fuel to power a generator he purchased from Home Depot earlier in the day. Melissa Elian, The Journal News

A loader makes a sand barrier on the beach to help stop storm surge from approaching Hurricane Sandy on Oct. 28, in Atlantic City. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ordered Atlantic City's 12 casinos to shut down and surrounding states have also declared a state of emergency. Mark Wilson, Getty Images

Jerry Velez, top, Richard Caguilat, left, and William Disburger, right, remove a large sign from the Sea Shell Ice Cream shop in Wildwood, N.J., on Oct. 27 in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. From the lowest lying areas of the Jersey shore, where residents were already being encouraged to leave, to the state's northern highlands, where sandbags were being filled and cars moved into parking lots on high ground, New Jersey began preparing in earnest for Hurricane Sandy. Mel Evans, AP

Metropolitan Transportation Authority workers cover an entrance to the Canal St. A, C, and E station with plywood to help prevent flooding in New York. As Hurricane Sandy approaches the New York region, residents of some flood-prone areas have been told to evacuate and officials are preparing for a possible transit system shutdown. Mary Altaffer, AP

Nick Almeter, 26, prepares for another storm, as he carries another sandbag to place by properties along Ocean View Avenue in Norfolk, Va. Hurricane Sandy, upgraded again Saturday just hours after forecasters said it had weakened to a tropical storm, was barreling north from the Caribbean and was expected to make landfall early Tuesday near the Delaware coast, then hit two winter weather systems as it moves inland, creating a hybrid monster storm. Ross Taylor, The Virginian Pilot via AP

Jessica Rosenberg of Scarsdale, loads the last of many food and water items she purchased at the Stop and Shop in White Plains. Rosenberg, like most Lower Hudson Valley residents, was stocking up on essential items like water, canned and dry food items as well as batteries, in preparation of Hurricane Sandy. Matthew Brown, Gannett

Owner Mike Cannon stands in his fishing boat, MegaBites II, as a 50-ton lift carries the boat out of the Maurice River at Yank Marine Services marina in Dorchester, N.J., in preparation for Hurricane Sandy. Mel Evans, AP

Hurricane Sandy churns off the east coast on October 27 in the Atlantic Ocean. As states of emergency are declared Sandy is expected to head up the coast this weekend and make a possible landfall anywhere from North Carolina to New England. NOAA via Getty Images

A resident of Leogane, Haiti, makes her way to her home as the water level continues to rise on Oct. 26. Residents of Leogane have had five consecutive days of rain in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, which caused serious flooding and claimed at least 26 lives in the impoverished country. Carl Juste, The Miami Herald via AP

Men carry a gas container through a street that was damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Friday Oct. 26, 2012. Sandy was a Category 2 hurricane when it wreaked havoc in Cuba on Thursday, killing 11 people in eastern Santiago and Guantanamo provinces as its winds and rain destroyed thousands of houses and ripped off roofs. Franklin Reyes, AP